Finding the Perfect Candidate

I have read many articles giving valuable tips on how to hire the right candidate and not let them ‘drop out’. In spite of all these useful guidelines this has been one of the biggest pain points in the IT industry, in India. Candidates change their mind before, during or after the interviews. If this is not frustrating enough some quit few days after joining. Every time a candidate changes his mind and deviates from the script, all hell break loose but in a stereo typical set pattern. First, the candidate is painted as a villain and usually relegated to the bottom of the food chain with everyone blaming him / her. As a next step, a poor recruiter and the company he / she represents is then taken to cleaners by the client coordinators who themselves would have been taken to task by their delivery team or worse still, their client.  If you are part of the great Indian rat race, chances are, you would have witnessed this drama almost every day. With some luck, is a part of this drama too. Welcome to the Indian IT Staffing business.

A sales person (account manager), hates this drama because he/she is invariably sucked into it, to play the most confused of all characters. A villain in the client’s eye, a Savior in the recruiter’s eye but in reality a hapless comedian who gets beat up by everyone. The finger of God (client) along with all His wrath and fury is pointed at this clueless character, who will not understand for a while as to why is he being mauled. After he has endured enough suffering he tries to vent his own fury on his colleagues, the recruiters. Poor guy does not realize, that they are not as clueless as he was but more than prepared with their side of the story. Add the seething anger that they already are in for having lost their incentive, our account manager realizes it is futile to stay angry.

Having been the reluctant protagonist in many of these dramas, I have decided to write my own script. A neutral perspective, if I can call it. Is this mayhem caused because we try to solve the symptom without understanding the cause? Can the cause be limited, if not removed completely? Will the Gods accept part of the blame too, as they might be the cause and not the victim that we are made to believe every day? Let us look at some of the factors that influence the outcome of hiring

Pumpkins for Apples

A Job ‘Spec’ is a fundamental guide for searching the perfect candidate. How often have we seen it change during the course of a hiring process? If only this was reviewed before publishing, every stake holder could have saved so much time during this process. If nothing, the recruiter might not be presenting pumpkins when the requirement is for an apple. If you want apples, just say so. Also be ready to pay for it and not for a pumpkin.

Humans are not Products

The interviewer should realize that we are not dealing with ‘products’ that would match the specification almost perfectly. How often do we see candidates from tier 1 companies rejected by clients with a note, “He could not even answer the basics”? In their quest to get the ultimate super hero, they tend to look for a fully finished product with un realistic limits of tolerance be it in technology skills, attitude, communication and everything else. (A bill Gates who could speak like Shakespeare. Let me not bring in the cost dynamics and time to deployment, to add to this complexity). We are dealing with humans who could scale up to the job role, even if they don’t match 100% today. Most clients screen a candidate over 3 rounds of interview giving more reasons and time for a candidate to judge the client or change his mind. Are we not confident about the ability of our own interviewers that we have to re validate several times? Again, we will be better served to think of a candidate as a human with changing emotions, options, dynamics etc as opposed to a product matching the ‘Spec’

Who is judging who

While we believe that the interviewer is judging the interviewee for various aspects of fitment, we conveniently fail to understand a simple truth – An Interview is a two way street. While the client is busy judging the candidate, the candidate is busy judging the client, the role, the quality of interview conducted, the quality of interaction etc. Not to mention the other known and spoken about aspects like salary and designations. They are just the right reasons, but then certainly not the real reasons influencing a candidate’s decision. How often has a vendor partner called a client for reviewing the number of drop outs and analyzing their mistakes? Un thinkable, as it may sound, maybe some part of the answer to this bane might surface through such discussions. Will the God’s let them be judged?

The New God’s

The changing IT landscape in India, the changing business dynamics and various other factors that influence the employability of a candidate have created a deadly twin effect - Clients who have limited budget and time to hire a special talent – A landscape of limited availability of such special talent. When you combine this with the changing dynamics of human personality amongst today’s younger lot, we are left with a select few who are high on confidence, attitude, backed by the awareness of demand for their skill. This has probably led them to believe that they are the new God’s. Judge them as you like, but be prepared to be judged by them as well.

The Recruiters

It is undoubtedly one of the most thankless jobs. They are noticed only when they fail. They probably deal with more uncertainties and elements that are far beyond their control than most others do. However, being the first ambassador of a company talking to a potential candidate, they play a vital role in creating a right first impression. More often than not, we don’t get a second chance to make the first impression. A miscommunication at this point can have a lasting impact on a candidate which can lead to the potential ‘drop out’. 

There is no elixir to overcome the challenges of finding the right candidate or eliminating the bane of ‘drop out’. All stake holders need to put their hand up and take that step forward to reduce, if not eliminate this bane. Are you ready to take the first step?